I’m pretty sure that 2014/15 has been the strongest year for the Swedish Death metal revival movement since the genre reignited back in 2008/09.  And its just not bigger names like Bloodbath, Entrails, Feral, Just Before Dawn, Puteraeon ,Revel in Flesh, Usurpress, Brutally Deceased, Wombbath or dusted of compilations and of ‘lost classics’  like Goddefied, Sorcery and Festerday.  New, fresh, often obscure hungry bands are crawling from every corner of the world and delivering the goods  as bands like Bottlekopf, Hereza, Wreckage, Unwilling Flesh, Come Back From the Dead, Carnation , Cult of Endtime, Skelethal, Mass Burial, Austerymn, Smothered, Disrupted, Infected Chaos, Morbid Vomit  and many others have risen from the Grave and kicked all kinds of ass.

At the top of the latter list, is Swedish new comers Abscession and their debut, Grave Offerings, released earlier this year on fledgling Final Gate Records (also home to the equally kickass Carnation), but only now finding its way to my ear, and might be the best of the bunch of the newcomers. Comprised of guys from bands I have not heard of like Throne of Heresy, Zombie Destrüktion, Die, Putrescent Secretancy , Aphelionand Cascade, this collective has come together to deliver absolutely one of the better Grave/Entombed/Dismember worships I have heard lately. And as you can tell from the opening overly name dropping paragraph I have heard  a lot.

Everything you’d expect from the genre is here, importantly that mid range guitar tone is spot on (mastered by Dan Swano), deep, buzzing and reverb laden along with a thick bass and gruff powerful vocals, you know the sound. However, what sets these guys apart is the songs.  These guy absolutely have that ‘it’ factor when if comes to delivering catchy, raucous, romping Swedish death metal gallops. Dare I say, there is even a bit of playful/fun factor to many of these canters despite the usual dark. death metal themes. For example, the opening duo of “Where Sleeping Gods Dwell” and “Gargoyle” contain two of the albums best cuts with big beefy, but in credibly catchy riffs, with “Gargoyle” (along with Mass Burial‘s “Its a Zombie”) arguably being one of my favorite songs of the genre in recent memory.

And the rest of the album isn’t chopped liver, all 10 tracks just deliver on a near perfect level. Whether its the slow burn of “In My Coffin” , the Hail of Bullets styled rumble of “Cabin 13”, snarling chug of “Plague Bearer”, more uptempo blast of “Engorged With Gore” and such, all are top notch and up there with the Bloodbaths and Entrails of the genre And what really helps the material is the number of nice solos from Niel Anilao, who gives track like “The Ruiner” some real flair atop the standard Stockholm burl. Then there’s the moody 10 minute closer, “Downfall part 1”,  which features a piaon and clean vocal break about halfway through, to show the bands more progressive side. I cant wait for part 2.

Grave Offerings  is yet another outstanding addition to a scene that shows no signs of letting up, and the quality seems to be as amazing as the quantity, and I’m drinking it all up!

[Visit the band's website]

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